Secrets and Swords
by PoeticLife
Summary: "If you're there, and I know you are, come and speak to me." There was a long silence, where the only sounds were Merlin's steady breathing and the whisper of wind through the grass. Then, the water rippled in the centre of the lake, until a woman rose from the depths with tangled hair and a sword. / Freya exposes a few secrets that Merlin would rather no one knew. Reveal.
1. One

**Let me know what you like about this, what you want to read next chapter, etc. I'd like to know what you think and what I can improve on.**

 **I've played around a bit with timelines and other details. It's set while Arthur is king, but the sword is still in the lake, and he apparently hasn't had to take it out of the stone. Imagine Merlin threw it back to Freya instead of sticking it in a stone. Morgana, by the way, is evil. I'm going to say this is set in a season four AU, maybe? My first AU. I could get used to this.**

 **It's odd how much Merlin/Freya I write, considering that I headcanon Merlin to be asexual. If you want me to write about that, I would be more than happy to. I think Merlin was more in love with the idea of playing the hero and not having to hide than he was in love with her.**

 **If you have an idea for a oneshot you're too lazy or too busy to write, or there's a situation you've always wanted to read but never have, review or PM me. I've got an urge to write but no topic, which is pointless and frustrating. I've asked people in my life, and they've suggested that I write about Merlin using flatware dangerously on a plane, which is not exactly what I'm looking for.**

 **Also, for my other story (a Harry Potter story) I need a prank that two immature eleven-year-olds would think was a slightly cruel but effective way to humiliate someone they hated quite a bit. I don't even care if you read my story, just review with a prank. The clever and incredibly orignal title is _Marauders: Year One._ Seriously, though, I don't care if you read it or not, I just need a prank to write the next chapter. **

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He stared down into the lake, concentrating hard. The water was glassy, still, and liquid magic, though that last detail was only known because the lake's magic was constantly promising magic-users a safe place to rest. Merlin, being quite a skilled magic-user, could practically feel the ground vibrate with it, and he could sense that she was there and listening.

"I know you're in there," he said in a clear voice that he imagined was just as clear to her. "I'm just trying this - it's Samhain, and the veil between our world is very thin. I've seen you here before, remember? The sword I put where none could wield it? Well, I figured that for one night a year, we could probably see each other, given what we've both sacrificed on the chance that I can do my job properly. If you're there, and I know you are, come and speak to me."

There was a long silence, where the only sounds were Merlin's steady breathing and the whisper of wind through the grass. Then, the water rippled in the centre of the lake, until a woman rose from the depths with tangled hair and a sword. Her dress was damp but not dripping as she walked out towards him, and her eyes were fixed on him. Her pale skin shone in the moonlight.

"I knew you could hear me," Merlin said quietly, grinning. "I've missed you."

"And I you," Freya replied, walking out of the lake barefoot to stand in front of him for a moment, then murmured, "So which of us kisses the other first? I don't have long here, you know."

He laughed, still hardly able to believe that he had called her to the living world. "I'm too busy wondering why you have the sword here with you. Why'd you bring it out?"

"It's time to give it to Arthur," she replied, admiring the sword for what she obviously knew would be the last time. "He's ready. Your destiny is coming quite a bit sooner than you think, Merlin. I don't know all of the details, but there's something they'll see that will reveal you as Emrys, and from there, Albion will become either a reality or an unfulfilled prophecy."

Merlin froze. "They'll see me?"

"It's destiny, my love," Freya told him with a smile. She stuck the sword in the soft ground and leaned on it to look up at him. "You've had experiences with trying to change destiny before."

"Don't remind me," he muttered bitterly, then shook his head. "Anyways. You're here. Let's forget our destinies for a while."

He kissed her, slowly, and the only thing that mattered in the world was her. They might have stood there for days, for all he cared about Camelot in that moment, and he wasn't sure that they didn't.

"You really have missed me," Freya remarked, smiling just as much as he was.

"You have no idea," he told her, remembering weeks of trying to hide how miserable he felt after she had died. "How have you been?"

She shrugged, taking his hands in hers casually, as if every touch didn't mean the world to both of them. Her hands were cool and smooth. "Dead and stuck at the bottom of a lake isn't the ideal way to live, but it's better than being cursed. My role as guardian of Avalon lets me see parts of what's to come, and when we talk of destiny, you and Arthur are nearly always mentioned."

"As Emrys and the Once and Future King, or as Merlin and Arthur?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

Freya sighed. "The former. You'll be revealed quite soon, and I've seen parts of what could be coming. Brace yourself, my love; it won't be easy for you no matter what course events take."

"Is it ever?" He muttered, and she laughed, a sound he wished he could listen to forever. "I mean, thanks for being a little less cryptic than that damned dragon, but are there any more details you can tell me?"

She stared straight into his eyes, completely serious. "This is not the last time you will see me in the days to come. I might be able to be a bit clearer then. At this point, it's hard to warn you without causing too much trouble with destinies and all that. All I can tell you is that Arthur will find out about your magic and your combined destinies, and his reaction - and the reaction of the Knights of the Round Table - will shape Camelot's future."

He sighed, taking a step nearer to her. She did the same, walking forwards until they were so close he may as well have been holding her.

"Every time I see you, it feels like my heart is being torn in two," he murmured to her, trying to memorise her scent and the way she breathed even though she didn't need to.

"Oh, Merlin, my love," Freya whispered, sounding anguished. He put her arms around her, and she leaned in, obviously trying not to cry on his neckerchief. "What are we to do?"

He laughed quietly, wishing he could reply differently. "We can try to make this work. We have so far, haven't we? The tragic romance of the immortal Emrys and the dead Lady of the Lake?"

They held each other, and for a few minutes, the world stopped around them. Merlin's chest ached with sadness, and he stroked her wet, tangled hair and rubbed her back soothingly as she sobbed a few times in his arms.

"I only have so long," she told him, finally breaking away, and they stared at each other for a long moment through the blur of their tears. "I will see you soon, my love."

Freya took another step back, tears finally spilling over and rolling down her cheeks. She reluctantly walked backwards, gazing at him as the water covered more and more of her. "Be careful."

"I always am," he replied, and they both laughed like their hearts were breaking before the water went over her head.

Merlin kept laughing until he was sobbing. After a few minutes, he straightened his posture, wiped his face, and, with a deep breath, turned around to find some people he'd rather not see at that moment crouching in a bush behind the lake.

"I can explain, I swear I can, if you'll only give me a chance," he said quickly, as any sense of calm he had felt vanished on the spot.


	2. Two

"I can explain, I swear I can, if you'll only give me a chance," Merlin said quickly, glancing at each of them in turn. Arthur guessed that he was trying to gauge their reactions, and from the brief flash of absolute panic that he covered with a mask of no emotion at all, he hadn't liked what he saw.

"You have magic," Arthur said, dazed. Merlin had magic. _Merlin_ had _magic._ Ten minutes ago, he would have laughed at the thought. "And, apparently, a girlfriend who lives in a lake and wants me to have that sword right there."

He pointed to the sword still stuck in the grass. Merlin glanced back at it, then nodded a jerky little nod. "Yes. Um, how much of that did you see?"

"We know you've got a girlfriend, a destiny, a history with that sword, a title, some magic, and a damn good explanation," Gwaine replied with a pointed look at him that softened after seeing the panicked expression on his face. "I'm not going to kill you, and I'll kill anyone who tries to myself, but I'd like to hear what you've got to say."

Merlin gave him a bit of a smile. "Thanks, Gwaine. Look, Arthur, I swear to you that I have never used my magic for anything other than the protection of Camelot - and maybe a bit of saving lives - and the occasional chore -and rarely because I'm too lazy to get up and fetch something - and even less for pranks -"

"Explain," Arthur told him, sitting down and gesturing to his knights to do the same. Leon and Elyan, he noticed, looked rather startled, while Percival and Gwaine looked perfectly comfortable. He suspected his own face looked something like it did when he was hit over the head like he usually was, missing everything, and that was deliberate on Merlin's part, wasn't it? It made perfect sense now.

"Right," Merlin muttered, seemingly more to himself than to any of his listeners. "Right, erm... where should I start?"

"Start simple," Gwaine suggested. "We don't want to give Her Royal Highness a coronary now."

He didn't smile, but the tension in his shoulders visibly eased. "Alright. I was born with magic. I'm not the only warlock - the female term is witch, by the way, and that's what Morgana is - but I'm one of the most powerful. Um, _the_ most powerful, apparently. Under your father's rule, I would be dead as soon as I was born, so my mother hid my talents. When a friend found out, she sent me to Gaius in the hopes that he would teach me some control over my magic."

"And did he?" Leon asked. He didn't seem accusing, but genuinely curious.

Merlin nodded. "I had never known the definition of _caution_ before arriving here. The first time I saw Gaius, I startled him and made him fall from the top of his bookshelves, and I caught him by slowing time and placing his bed underneath him. I thought he was going to kill me until I gave him my mother's letter. I was _such_ a bad liar back then, and I was so scared, I was ready to blame the magic on his houseplant..."

Arthur thought back to a cocky peasant boy who had told him that he could take him apart without a single blow. It made sense now, the way he had seemed to believe what he had said, and how he had hesitated before throwing the first punch. Merlin had always told terrible lies, but lately, he had found it harder and harder to distinguish between lies and truth. Now, he knew without a doubt that this was the absolute truth.

"So you didn't knock me out with a lump of wood," he murmured, making the knights laugh.

"I'm still surprised you swallowed that," Merlin admitted with a grin. "No, you were half-drowned and enchanted. I just pulled you up to the surface. Anyways, I met you, became your servant, and for a while, I hated you. You were so pompous and arrogant, and very possibly the most condescending person I had ever met. Still are, sometimes. But the dragon kept talking on and on about destiny and coins and not truly hating the other, and I just decided to stick around anyways. Then I stopped seeing Prince Arthur and started seeing Arthur, and I saw that the person you were going to be was going to be a great king. You're destined to rule a land that is just to all, and I'm destined to help. I think I have, somewhat. I've saved your royal backside more times than -"

"Dragon?" Leon repeated, and _now_ he sounded accusing. "You talked with the Great Dragon?"

Merlin nodded casually, and continued as if he were talking about an old friend he used to have tea with. "He was the worst conversationalist, honestly. He had about four main points: hate Uther, hate Morgana, help Arthur, free him. Anything other than cryptic hints? Forget it. There were so many times where he could have just told me how to save your life, but no, he had to take the long way and talk about Albion's destiny and _"if I help you, you will free me, young warlock."_ That damned dragon -"

"You freed the dragon." Staring at Merlin like he wasn't sure what to make of him, Leon took a sharp breath. "You saw the casualties; you _tended_ to the casualties. How could you _do_ such a thing?"

"If I had known the extent of the damage he would cause, I would have let him rot underneath the castle!" Merlin protested, eyes full of some unnamed emotion. "Do you think that week was an easy one for me? If I could have spared Camelot sooner, I would have in a heartbeat!"

Arthur, completely confused, interrupted. "Spared Camelot sooner? Last I checked, I was the one who killed the Great Dragon."

Merlin gave him a sad little smile. "You were knocked unconscious, a dragonlord's powers are passed down father-to-son and only inherited after the father is dead, I had just found out I was Balinor's son..."

Arthur barely had words anymore. He had known that Merlin had spent a bit of time talking with the dragonlord, and that he had been fairly cut-up after his death, but he had never assumed anything like this.

Finally, he managed to choke out, "Have I ever done anything on my own?"

"Nope," Merlin replied with fake cheerfulness. "Not a thing. I even dress you."


End file.
